DD-DIRECT
TO HIT HOMES ON AUG 15
Come
August 15 and the average TV viewer in the country can really
declare independence - from cablewallahs and subscription
channels.
A
'soft launch' of DD-Direct, the direct-to-home services of
the national broadcaster with a bouquet of 17 channels is
expected to be launched less than a month from now.
While
DD-Direct would compete with Zee-affiliate ASC Enterprises'
Dish TV, will there be space for a third player? Star's DTH
proposal - Space TV - may just have to cool its heels for
a while.
Though
the government's DTH policy does not restrict the number of
DTH players, global experience has proved that just two players
can survive. Take for instance DirecTV and EchoStar in the
US. Though Dish TV entered the DTH arena to serve the rural
market, it has tiptoed into urban markets too. Reliable sources
told ET that there is a similar Phase II plan for DD-Direct
as well.
This
means that sharing of content would be imperative. In India,
there is no regulator for the broadcasting sector as yet.
The
Trai, which is going into issues of interconnection and vertical
monopolies, is expected to give its recommendations on "must
provide" clauses for services like DTH. ASC Enterprises
is still struggling to get private pay channels on board,
while Star is awaiting its license before participating on
other platforms.
Meanwhile,
DD is getting into the act. Prasar Bharati CEO KS Sarma says,
"The DD-Direct platform would initially comprise 17 DD
channels. We are negotiating with private broadcasters to
get their FTA channels on board."
Apparently, 12 such channels have volunteered to clamber onto
DD-Direct. This includes Star Utsav, Jain TV, Care TV, Raj
TV (Telugu, Tamil), Sun TV (Tamil), Alpha (Bangla), MH1 (Punjabi),
Kairali and Surya (Malayalam).
DD,
which was expecting a better response, is holding out for
more channels like ETV, SabTV, Sahara and the like. Though
DD waived the carriage fee for two years (bringing the fee
down from Rs 2 crore to Rs 72 lakh - for technology costs
alone), the response continues to be lukewarm.
This
has forced the public broadcaster to do a rethink on allowing
news channels aboard. Aaj Tak and Headlines Today have since
agreed to join the Direct platform. Eventually, DD hopes to
have 41 channels on DD-Direct.
A
difficult proposition if a strong player like Star jumps into
the ring, unless there are clear norms in place.
